Adams not done chasing gold
Don’t be fooled by the fluidity, Dame Valerie Adams remains committed to the last remaining goals of her long and storied sporting career.
The double Olympic and fourtime world shot put champion has entered a makeshift coaching situation as she heads into what is likely to be a year off while she looks to start a family.
She has made no secret of that ambition ever since being pipped for a third straight Olympic gold in Rio by American Michelle Carter.
That has seen regular Swissbased coach Jean-Pierre Egger retire from active duty, and replaced by a combination of Athletics New Zealand high performance director Scott Goodman and highly rated Kiwibased strength and conditioning expert Angus Ross.
Goodman will oversee the technical aspects of Adams’ training, while the innovative Ross, who is also part of Tom Walsh’s successful support team, will guide the strength and conditioning programme.
Meanwhile, she will continue to investigate the possibility of forming a part-time relationship with an offshore-based coach down the line.
It’s a scenario Adams is relaxed about at a time when launching that silver sphere into the stratosphere is not quite the priority it has been.
‘‘She has made no plans this year in terms of international competition,’’ said Adams’ manager Nick Cowan. ‘‘She is training, and training hard and well. She is feeling as good as she ever has. But she has been on the go for a long period and the mental resilience she required to come back two or three years ago with the elbow and shoulder means she needs a decent mental break.
‘‘Physically and mentally she’s in really good shape, but she just needs to get away from it, take a bit of stock and recharge. She is committed to the Gold Coast (Commonwealth Games in 2018), she wants to defend her title there, but hasn’t made any plans in terms of when and how she will return to competition.’’
Clearly how her family plans play out will dictate that to a large extent, so for now Team Adams remains in somewhat of a holding pattern.
‘‘She has to work through that process,’’ added Cowan. ‘‘It’s good for her because that changes the dynamic in terms of priorities and how you look at things. But she has made it very clear to those in her team that we are still training, and that we still have our eye on international competition, but we’re not making any plans at this stage.’’
Goodman, who filled the technical coaching role at late notice for Rio when Egger’s health issues prevented him travelling, said he is comfortable both with his job in the rejigged Team Adams setup and with her prospects of returning to top- level competition.
‘‘She wants to be based in New Zealand, and hopefully start a family,’’ said Goodman who is an experienced throws coach. ‘‘I think it is a bit of an interim model probably from now through to Gold Coast. I’d say at that time we’d sit down and look at what’s the best structure, and whether there is somebody overseas she wants to work with.’’
Goodman had no doubt that Adams could come back on top of her game. ‘‘There are plenty of examples in throwing where athletes have come back after having children and won major championships. There is no reason that can’t happen.’’